CAA Tournament: Quarterfinal Hoops on the Harbor in Baltimore

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TOWING THE LINE: A Ton of Towson Free Throws Take Down James Madison

Mar 8, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Towson Tigers forward Jerrelle Benimon (20) reacts after a three pointer in the second half against the James Madison Dukes during the Colonial Athletic Conference basketball tournament at Mariner Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

BALTIMORE — The Towson Tigers didn’t need the benefit of a pseudo-home crowd as the only in-state team in this year’s Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Nor did they need to shoot much from the field, because they did almost half of their scoring from the foul line.

In a game that featured 62 fouls, 97 free throws and five players who fouled out, second-seeded Towson (23-9, 14-3 CAA) took only 33 shots from the field (making 16) and sank 39 of 61 free throws to hold off the seventh-seeded James Madison Dukes (11-20, 6-11 CAA), to advance to Sunday’s semifinals with an 80-71 victory at the Baltimore Arena on Saturday.

Four Dukes fouled out and just as many Tigers had double digits in free throw attempts, led by this season’s CAA Player of the Year, Georgetown transfer Jerrelle Benimon, who scored 18 points while going only 2-for-5 from the field, but 12-21 at the free throw line.

Reserve guard Four McGlynn, who won an America East tournament title with Vermont, led all surprisingly led all scorers with 21 points, shooting exclusively from behind the arc (where he went 4-for-5) and at the foul line (where he made 9 of 10 shots).

“I thought Four McGlynn really helped us,” head coach Pat Skerry said. “We expected him to play well because he’s a guy that has played well in the NCAA tournament in conference tournaments, so I think his postseason experience really showed tonight.”

Guard Mike Burwell (5-for-10 from the floor and 6-for-11 at the line) scored 17 points and forward Marcus Damas added 14 for Towson.

James Madison was led by reserve guard Andre Nation’s 18 points, with a pair of starting guards — Charles Cooke (14 points) and Ron Curry (13) — joining him in double figures in scoring.

“Two things that stood out… we guarded and we got to the foul line,” Skerry said, with the latter of those two things being a vast understatement.

The Dukes made four more shots on 21 more attempts from the field, and shot 28-for-36 from the line, including 22-for-28 in the second half. But the Tigers went 27-for-42 from the stripe in the second half during a contest that because of the incessant foul calls, didn’t end until about the time next quarterfinal game, between William & Mary and the College of Charleston was supposed to start.

A 12-3 first-half run turned a close game in Towson’s favor and gave the Tigers a 24-12 lead with 9:06 left in the first half before they settled for a 34-27 halftime edge.

That margin grew to as much as 58-43 in the second half, on a 3-pointer by Burwell, with 9:47 remaining, and although the lead was cut to just six points on three different occasions thereafter, JMU was unable to get any closer.

Towson, the preseason conference favorite, can reach the title game on Monday night if it can get by third-seeded William & Mary on Sunday.